ment of our kingdom, and for the better quieting of the hostility
sprung up lately between us and our barons, we have made all
these concessions ; wishing them to enjoy these in a complete and
firm stability forever, we make and concede to them the security
Great Charter of Liberties
described below ; that is to say, that they shall elect twenty-five
barons of the kingdom, whom they will, who ought with all their
power to observe, hold, and cause to be observed, the peace and
liberties which we have conceded to them, and by this our present
charter confirmed to them ; in this manner, that if we or our jus-
ticiar, or our bailiffs, or any one of our servants shall have done
wrong in any way toward any one, or shall have transgressed any
of the articles of peace or security; and the wrong shall have
been shown to four barons of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, let
those four barons come to us or to our justiciar, if we are out of
the kingdom, laying before us the transgression, and let them ask
that we cause that transgression to be corrected without delay.
And if we shall not have corrected the transgression or, if we shall
be out of the kingdom, if our justiciar shall not have corrected it
within a period of forty days, counting from the time in which it
has been shown to us or to our justiciar, if we are out of the king-
dom ; the aforesaid four barons shall refer the matter to the re-
mainder of the twenty-five barons, and let these twenty-five barons
with the whole community of the country distress and injure us in
ever)' way they can; that is to say by the seizure of our castles,
lands, possessions, and in such other ways as they can until it
shall have been corrected according to their judgment, saving our
person and that of our queen, and those of our children ; and
when the correction has been made, let them devote themselves
to us as they did before. And let whoever hi the country wishes
take an oath that in all the above-mentioned measures he will obey
the orders of the aforesaid twenty-five barons, and that he will in-
jure us as far as he is able with them, and we give permission to
swear publicly and freely to each one who wishes to swear, and no one
will we ever forbid to swear. All those, moreover, in the country who
of themselves and their own will are unwilling to take an oath to the
twenty-five barons as to distressing and injuring us along with them,
we will compel to take the oath by our mandate, as before said. And
if any one of the twenty- five barons shall have died or departed from
the land or shall in any other way be prevented from taking the
above-mentioned action, let the remainder of the aforesaid twenty-
five barons choose another in his place, according to their judg-
ment, who shall take an oath in the same way as the others. In
all those things, moreover, which are committed to those five and
twenty barons to carry out, if perhaps the twenty-five are present,
and some disagreement arises among them about something, or if
any of them when they have been summoned are not willing or
are not able to be present, let that be considered valid and firm
52 English Constitutional Documents
which the greater part of those who are present arrange or com-
mand, just as if the whole twenty-five had agreed in this ; and let
the aforesaid twenty-five swear that they will observe faithfully all
the things which are said above, and with all their ability cause
them to be observed. And we will obtain nothing from any one,
either by ourselves or by another by which any of these conces-
sions and liberties shall be revoked or diminished ; and if any
such thing shall have been obtained, let it be invalid and void, and
we will never use it by ourselves or by another.
62. And all ill-will, grudges, and anger sprung up between us
and our men, clergy and laymen, from the time of the dispute, we
have fully renounced and pardoned to all. Moreover, all trans-
gressions committed on account of this dispute, from Easter in
the sixteenth year of our reign till the restoration of peace, we
have fully remitted to all, clergy and laymen, and as far as per-
tains to us, fully pardoned. And moreover we have caused to
be made for them testimonial letters-patent of lord Stephen,
archbishop of Canterbury, lord Henry, archbishop of Dublin, and
of the aforesaid bishops and of Master Pandulf, in respect to that
security and the concessions named above.
63. Wherefore we will and firmly command that the Church of
England shall be free, and that the men in our kingdom shall
have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights and concessions,
well and peacefully, freely and quietly, fully and completely, for
themselves and their heirs, from us and our heirs, in all things
and places, forever, as before said. It has been sworn, moreover,
as well on our part as on the part of the barons, that all these
things spoken of above shall be observed in good faith and without
any evil intent. Witness the above named and many others.
Given by our hand in the meadow which is called Runnymede,
between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in
the seventeenth year of our reign.
30. Writ for the Collection of a Carrucage
(August, 1220. Latin text, Stubbs, S. C. 352. Translation by Editors.
2 Stubbs, 36.)
THE king to the sheriff of Northamptonshire, Greeting.
Know ye that, on account of our great need and the very
urgent pressure of our debts and likewise for the protection of
our territory of Poitou, all the magnates and subjects of our whole
Writ for the Collection of a Carnicage 53
realm have granted to us collectively and voluntarily a gift to be
made to us, to wit, from each carrucate as it was defined on the
morrow of the feast of the Blessed John the Baptist last part, in
the fourth year of our reign, two shillings are to be collected by
your own hand and the hands of two of the more lawful knights
of your country; who shall be chosen to do this, by the will
and counsel of all of the county in. full county court. And there-
fore we bid you and firmly and strictly enjoin you that, after the
convocation of the full court of your county, by the will and
consent of those of the county, you cause to be chosen two of
the more lawful knights of the whole county who shall best know
how, wish and be able to attend to this business to our advantage,
and when these have been associated with you, you shall immedi-
ately cause this gift to be assessed throughout your whole bailiwick
and collected from each carrucate, as aforesaid, excepting the
demesnes of the archbishops, bishops, and their villeins, and
excepting the demesnes of the order of the Cistercians and Pre-
monstratensians. And you shall see to it that you know how
to make answer to us strictly and openly, on the morrow of
Michaelmas next coming, at London, how many carrucates there
are in your bailiwick from which we ought to have this gift ; and
the money coming from thence you shall cause to be safely
collected by the hands of the aforesaid two knights and by your
own hand, and that money you shall cause to be brought to
London on the aforesaid day under your seal and the seals of
the aforesaid two knights, and you shall have it deposited safely
in the New Temple until it shall have been arranged what ought
to be done with it ; and you, as you value your life and property,
busy yourself in this, lest afterwards, by occasion of malfeasance
done by you and the aforesaid knights in the inquisition and
collection, we should have to make diligent inquisition by faithful
subjects sent from our court, to the serious confusion of yourself
and of those who shall have been associated with you in the
making of the aforesaid inquisition and collection.
Witness, etc., at Oxford, the ninth day of August
54 English Constitutional Documents
31. Writ for the Assembling of the County
Court before the Judges Itinerant
(April, 1231. Latin text, Stubbs, S. C. 358. Translation by Editors.
2 Stubbs, 214.)
THE king to the sheriff of Yorkshire, Greeting.
Summon by good summoners all archbishops, bishops, abbots,
priors, earls, barons, knights, and all freeholders from your baili-
wick, from each vill four lawful men and the reeve, and from each
borough twelve lawful burgesses, throughout your whole bailiwick,
and all others who are accustomed and ought to appear before
the justices itinerant, that they be present at York on the octave
of Trinity Sunday in the fifteenth year of our reign, before our
beloved and faithful S. de Segrave, Ralph Fitz-Robert, Brian
Fitz-Alan, William of Lisle, Robert of Lexington, Master Robert
of Shardelawe, and William of London, whom we have appointed
our justices, to hear and perform our commands. Also, at that
time, cause to be brought before the said justices all pleas of the
crown which have not been tried, and those which have arisen
since our justices last went on circuit in those parts, and all attach-
ments concerning those pleas, and all the assizes and all the pleas
which are set down for the first assize of the justices, with the
writs of the assizes and pleas, so that those assizes and pleas shall
not be omitted, on account of any default of yours or of your
summons. Also cause it to be proclaimed and made known
throughout your whole bailiwick that all the assizes and all the
pleas which were appointed a term for a hearing and have not
been brought to an end before our justices at Westminster, or
before our justices who last went on circuit in your county to
hear all pleas, or before the justices sent thither to hold assizes of
novel disseisin and of jail-delivery, shall at that time come before
our aforesaid justices at York, in the same status in which they
have remained by our order, or by the order of our aforesaid
justices itinerant or our justices of the bench. Summon also all
those who have been sheriffs since the last circuit of the aforesaid
justices in those parts that they be present at that time and place
before our aforesaid justices, with the writs concerning the
assizes and the pleas which they received during their term of
office, to answer for their term as they ought to answer before the
justices itinerant. And have there the summons and this writ.
Witness Hubert de Burgh, etc., at Westminster, the twentieth
day of April.
Writ of Summons for Two Knights of the Shire 55
32. Writ for the Collection of Scutage
(July, 1235. Latin text, Stubbs, S. C. 364. Translation by Editors.
2 Stubbs, 52.)
THE king to the sheriff of Somersetshire, Greeting.
Know that the earls and barons and all others of our whole
realm of England, of their own free will and not as a precedent,
have granted us an effectual aid to promote our great undertak-
ings. Wherefore provision was made by their advice that we
should have from each knight's fee which is held from us in chief, and
from the wardships, as well from a new feoffment as from an old
one, two marks to furnish us the aforesaid aid, of which they made
provision to give us one moiety at Michaelmas in the nineteenth
year of our reign, and the other moiety at Easter in our twentieth
year. They also made provision that the said scutage should be
collected by the hands of their bailiffs in each county and paid by
the hands of the same to two knights whom we have designated in
each county for conveying it to our exchequer in London, and
delivering it there to our treasurer and our chamberlains ; and
therefore we order that, at the command of all the earls and barons
and all others who hold from us in chief, in the aforesaid bailiwick,
in the aforesaid manner, and without delay, you shall make dis-
traint upon all the knights and freeholders who hold from them
by knight service in your bailiwick for the paying to their bailiffs
from each knight's fee and wardship two marks to render us the
aforesaid aid at the aforesaid times, and for the delivery of it to
John of Aura and Henry of Meriet whom we have appointed for
this purpose in your county, as aforesaid etc.
Witness myself at Westminster, the seventeenth of July in the
nineteenth year, etc.
33. Writ of Summons for Two Knights of the
Shire to grant an Aid
(February, 1254. Latin text, Stubbs, S. C. 376. Translation by Editors.
2 Stubbs, 69, 232.)
TJ*ORM directed to all the magnates and sheriffs of England.
-i The king to the sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire,
Greeting.
Since the earls and barons and other magnates of our realm
56 English Constitutional Documents
have faithfully promised us that they will be in London in three
weeks from next Easter, furnished with horses and arms and well
equipped to go without any delay to Portsmouth, to come over to
Gascony to us, to aid us against the king of Castile who intends to
invade our territory of Gascony with a strong force, next summer,
we have ordered you to constrain to this all those in your baili-
wick who hold lands worth twenty pounds a year from us in chief,
or from others who are under age and in our wardship ; we straitly
command you, that besides all those aforesaid, you cause to come
before our council at Westminster on the fifteenth day after Easter
next, four lawful and discreet knights from the said counties whom
the said counties shall have chosen for this purpose, in place of all
and singular of the said counties, that is, two from one county and
two from the other, who together with the knights from the other
counties whom we have had summoned for the same day, shall
arrange what aid they are willing to pay us in our need. And you
yourself carefully set forth to the knights and others of the said
counties, our need and how urgent is our business, and effectually
persuade them to pay us an aid sufficient for the time being ; so
that the aforesaid four knights at the aforesaid time shall be able
to give definite answer concerning the said aid to the aforesaid
council, for each of the said counties. We also give you an abso-
lute command that all dues to us in your bailiwick which are in
arrears, and ought to be paid to our exchequer before Easter
next, or which ought to be paid to the exchequer at the aforesaid
Easter, you shall have at the aforesaid exchequer on the fifteenth
day after the aforesaid Easter, and you are to know that unless
you have the aforesaid debts then and there, we shall not only
cause you to be placed under arrest but we shall also cause those
dues to be collected from your lands and tenements to your
exceeding loss.
Witness Eleanor the queen and Richard earl of Cornwall, at
Windsor, the eleventh day of February.
34. Provisions of Oxford
(Summer of 1258. Text, Latin and French, Stubbs, S. C. 387. Translation
of Latin by Editors, of French as in Stubbs, S. C. 393. 2 Stubbs, 76.)
Provision made at Oxford
IT is provided that from each county there shall be chosen four
discreet and lawful knights, who on each day when the county
Provisions of Oxford 57
court is held, shall meet to hear all complaints made by the sher-
iffs or bailiffs or any one else against all persons whatsoever, con-
cerning all trespasses whatsoever, and to make the attachments
which belong to the said complaints before the next coming of
the chief justice into those parts. Also they shall take sufficient
sureties from the plaintiff to prosecute and from the defendant to
appear for trial before the aforesaid justice at his next coming.
And that the aforesaid four knights shall cause enrollment to be
made of all the aforesaid complaints, with their attachments in
proper order and sequence, that is, each hundred separately and
by itself. So that the aforesaid justice at his next coming shall
be able to hear and bring to an end the aforesaid complaints, one
by one from each hundred. And they shall make known to the
sheriff that all the hundredmen and their bailiffs shall be made to
appear before the said justice, at his next coming, at a time and
place which he shall have announced to them ; so that each hun-
dredman shall cause all plaintiffs and defendants from his baili-
wick to appear in succession according as the said justice shall
have called to trial from the said hundred ; and also so many and
such knights as well as free and lawful men from his bailiwick by
whom the truth of the matter can best be established, in such
manner that all shall not be troubled together and at the same
time, but as many shall appear as can be tried and brought to an
end in one day.
Likewise it is provided that no knight of the aforesaid counties,
shall be excused by writ of the lord king that he be not placed
upon juries and assizes, nor be quit with respect to this provision
thus made for the common advantage of the whole realm.
Those elected from the Party of the Lord King
The lord bishop of London, the lord bishop-elect of Winchester,
the lord Henry son of the king of Germany, the lord John earl of
Warenne, the lord Guy of Lusignan, the lord William of Valence,
the lord John earl of Warwick, the lord John Mansel, friar John
of Darlington, the abbot of Westminster, the lord Henry of
Wengham.
Those elected from the Party of the Earls and Barons
The lord bishop of Worcester, the lord Simon earl of Leicester,
the lord Richard earl of Gloucester, the lord Humphrey earl of
Hereford, the lord Roger Marshall, the lord Roger of Mortimer,
the lord John Fitz-Geoffrey, the lord Hugh Bigot, the lord Rich-
58 English Constitutional Documents
ard de Gray, the lord William Bardulf, the lord Peter de Montfort,
the lord Hugh le Despenser.
And if it happens that any one of these cannot be present,
through necessity, the rest of these shall choose whom they will,
to wit, the other necessary in the place of the one absent, in order
to transact this business.
This the Commonalty of England swore at Oxford
We, so and so, make known to all men, that we have sworn
upon the holy Gospels, and are held together by such oath, and
promise in good faith, that each one of us and we all together will
mutually aid each other, both ourselves and those belonging to us,
against all people, doing right and taking nothing that we cannot
without doing mischief, saving faith to the king and the crown.
And we promise under the same oath, none of us will henceforth
take land or movables by which this oath can be disturbed or in
any ways impaired. And if any one acts against this, we will hold
him as a mortal enemy.
This is the Oath to the Twenty-four
Each swore on the holy Gospels, that he to the honor of God,
and to his faith to the king, and to the profit of the realm, will
ordain and treat with the aforesaid sworn persons upon the refor-
mation and amendment of the state of the realm. And that he
will not fail for gift, nor for promise, for love, nor for hate, nor for
fear of any one, nor for gain, nor for loss, loyally to do according
to the tenor of the letter which the king and his son have together
given for this.
This the Chief Justice of England swor
He swears that he will well and loyally according to his power
do that which belongs to the justiciar of right to hold, to all per-
sons, to the profit of the king and the kingdom, according to the
provision made and to be made by the twenty-four, and by the
counsel of the king and the great men of the land, who shall swear
in these things to aid and support him.
This the Chancellor of England swore
That he will seal no writ, excepting writs of course, without the
commandment of the king and of his council who shall be present.
Provisions of Oxford 59
Nor shall he seal a gift of a great wardship, or of a great ( ) '
nor of escheats, without the assent of the great council or of the
major part. And that he will seal nothing which may be contrary
to the ordinance which is made and shall be made by the twenty-
four, or by the major part. And that he will keep no fee other-
wise than what is given to the others. And he shall be given a
companion in the form which the council shall provide.
This is the Oath which the Guardians of the King's Castles made
That they will keep the castles of the king loyally and in good
faith for the use of the king and of his heirs ; and that they will
give them up to the king or to his heirs, and to none other, and
by his counsel and in no other manner, to wit, by honest men of
the land elected as his council, or by the major part. And this
form by writ lasts for twelve years. And from that time forward
by this settlement and this oath they shall not be hindered so that
they cannot freely give them up to the king and his heirs.
These are those who are sworn of the King's Council
The archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of Worcester, the
earl of Leicester, the earl of Gloucester, the earl Marshall, Peter
of Savoy, the earl of Albemarle, the earl of Warwick, the earl of
Hereford, John Mansel, John Fitz-Geoffrey, Peter de Montfort,
Richard de Gray, Roger of Mortimer, James of Aldithley.
The twelve on the king's side have elected out of the twelve on
that of the commonalty the earl Roger the 1 Marshall, and Hugh
Bigot.
And the party of commonalty have elected out of the twelve
who are on the king's side the earl of Warwick and John Mansel.
And these four have power to elect the council of the king, and
when they have elected them, they shall present them to the
twenty-four ; and there, where the greater part of these agree, it
shall be held.
These are the Twelve who are ekcted by the Barons to treat at the
Three Parliaments by Year with the King's Council for all the
Commonalty of the Land of the Common Need
The bishop of London, the earl of Winchester, the earl of Here-
ford, Philip Basset, John of Balliol, John of Verdun, John de
l A blank space in the manuscript.
60 English Constitutional Documents
Gray, Roger of Sumery, Roger de Monthaut, Hugh le Despenser,
Thomas of Gresley, Giles d' Argentine.
These are the Twenty-four appointed by the Commonalty to treat
of Aid to the King
The bishop of Worcester, the bishop of London, the bishop of
Salisbury, the earl of Leicester, the earl of Gloucester, the earl
Marshall, Peter of Savoy, the earl of Hereford, the earl of Albe-
marle, the earl of Winchester, the earl of Oxford, John Fitz-
Geoffrey, John de Gray, John of Balliol, Roger of Mortimer,
Roger de Monthaut, Roger of Sumery, Peter de Monfort, Thomas
of Gresley, Fulk of Kerston, Giles d'Argentine, John Kyriel,
Philip Basset, Giles of Erdinton.
And if any one of these cannot or will not serve, those who shall
be there have power to elect another in his place.
Of the State of Holy Church
Be it remembered that the state of the holy church be amended
by the twenty-four elected to reform the state of the realm of
England, when they shall see place and time, according to the
power which they have respecting it by the letter of the king of
England.
Of the Chief Justice
Moreover, that a justice be appointed, one or two, and what
power he shall have, .and that he be only for a year. So that at
the end of the year, he answer concerning his time before the
king and his council and before him who shall follow him.
Of the Treasurer, and of the Exchequer
The like of the treasurer. That he too give account at the end
of the year. And other good persons are to be placed at the
exchequer according to the direction of the aforesaid twenty-four.
And there let all the issues of the land come, and in no part else-
where. And let that which shall be seen to require amendment,
be amended.
Of the Chancellor
The like of the chancellor. That he at the end of the year
answer concerning his time. And that he seal nothing out of
course by the sole will of the king. But that he do it by the
council which shall be around the king.
Provisions of Oxford 61
Of the Power of the Justice and Bailiffs
The chief justice has power to amend the wrongs done by all
the other justices and bailiffs, and earls, and barons, and all other
people, according to the law and justice of the land, and in fit
places, and that the justice take nothing unless it be presents of
bread and wine, and such things, to wit, meat and drink, as have
been used to be brought to the tables of the chief men for the
day. And let this same thing be understood of all the king's
councillors and all his bailiffs. And that no bailiff by occasion of
plea or of his office, take any fee in his own hand, or through the
agency of another in any manner. And if he is convicted, that
he be punished, and he who gives likewise. And if it be fitting,
that the king give to his justiciar and his people who serve him,
so that they have no occasion to take any thing from elsewhere.